This week’s texts will focus on the sin and temptation.
What is your response to temptation, especially when you know that it is against God’s desire? Will you be like the first human pair?
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 3:1-7
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
This is perhaps the most import text in the Old Testament, or in the whole Bible. The serpent tempted the woman with not only the desirable fruit, but with the possibility of a divine status. The first humans succumbed into the temptation and defied God’s command.
Why did they rebel against God’s will? There have been many interpretations. One possibility is their pride that replaces God with self. They have false illusion of self-importance.
The inflated sense of importance actually reveals their deep insecurity and restlessness. They are not sure if they have the best, even when they have the most important and meaningful career, the most healthy yet delicious food, the most intimate and non-pretentious relationships with God and with each other, and the most comfortable and environmentally-friendly dwelling in the world. They still want more. They want to be like God. They want to be in control like God is. The result is the hopeless condition of sin throughout all of humanity.
Why? What really brought them down is doubt, their doubt of God’s goodness! Indeed, pride due to doubting God’s goodness is the root of all temptation.
Yet, as the offspring of Adam and Eve, we are all afflicted with temptation. We all fall to its ego-boost. We deceive ourselves that we can be in control, just like God. We can handle our challenges at work, in our home, in our church, in ourselves, even though sometimes all the signs tell us the opposite. We think losing control is more scary than trusting God. Trusting God is a hurdle that has hindered many people from taking the initial step of faith. Unfortunately our actions show that we still have trouble to trust in God’s goodness.
What challenges are you facing today? Are you tempted to doubt God’s goodness because of what you have or don’t have right now in life? Are you having trouble trusting God? Are you at the edge of defying God’s will for your life?
The cycle of temptation and sin can be broken! Jesus Christ did it in the desert (Matt 4:1-11, our text later of the week), and we have the hope to be victorious (Romans 5:12-19, text for later). How? Remain in Christ, like the branch connected to the Vine (John 15:5). This is a life of total dependence!
Let’s pray:
Dear Lord, thank You for being the God I can truly trust and to whom I can give up control! Grant me the grace today to remain the love of Jesus Christ in face of every temptation to defy Your will. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
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